Untitled
by Pluperfect Pear
Summary: Back! Back I say! It looks like this place has come to life in my leave. So, here is my most recent installment. Yay for spurts! Please review and tell me if this story still has hope. o-o;;;
1. Chapter 1

Civilization on Planet was difficult for the first few years for its new inhabitants. Their first cities were living epitomes of the poor mans duct tape to repair a cracked radiator. Despite this however, the people had hope for themselves. Each separate faction wanted their cities to stretch across the entire Cantauri globular, from Alpha to Zeta, Lambda, Pi, and everything in between. What faction wouldn't want to say, "My people live in the finest star system in our known universe"? After a score nearly all communications were up, and the factions could freely trade and negotiate. Except for one faction...   
Chairman Yang of the Hive had decided, without the consent of his fellow faction leaders, to have an isolationist empire. 'My people needn't be concerned in world affairs,' was his theory, 'because once they're exposed to free-thinking individuals then they will want to be able to have freedoms like their peers. I refuse to let the reins on my faction be loosened with elections and another system of government besides a dictatorship.'  
Sunrise on Planet was a beautiful affair, especially with two suns. The main star would rise a quarter of the way and then it would be closely followed up by its satellite star. Throughout the course of the day, the smaller star would orbit the larger, giving a sort of simulation of Earth's orbit around the sun.  
  
"Would you look at that..." Contessa, a drone said. Every citizen of the Hive was a drone; all worked solely to serve Yang, his advisors, and his military. Contessa happened to be a field worker, harvesting crops and whatnot. "Two suns..."  
  
"Hush, one of the overseers will hear you!" someone next to her said.  
  
"Let them hear me!" She shouted as she began to sing, "Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren, mit trauen... sei stille."  
  
"What part of hush don't you understand?!" the now nervous drone said as he looked around for any oncoming police.  
  
"Wie Gott es fügt, so sei vergnügt, mein Wil-le!"   
The once legato 'wille' became staccato as the psyche whip coiled around Contessa's neck.  
  
"You know the no talking rule. Speech amongst citizens promotes the growth of a mutiny." The officer said.  
  
"How can you possibly call us citizens with the treatment we receive?" was the semi-choked reply of Contessa.  
  
The comment caused a murmur amongst the workers as they looked upon the scene. Unfazed by this, the officer motioned with his head for another officer to come to his side.  
  
"This one here is in violation of the laws of our society. Being such, she will be made an example of. Fifty lashes"  
  
The once murmur soon became cries of outrage at the punishment. Contessa was made to lean forward upon a strip of railing while the one of the police lifted the back of her shirt . Battered, callused skin in various patterns of lines was revealed to the drones, who looked on in horror. The officers took place on either side of her, pulled their psyche whips back, and then struck at the same time. As the lashes passed by, the rage turned into a grave atmosphere, and everyone else seemed effected except for the police, and Contessa.  
  
"Why, I feel like a slave before the Civil War." Contessa stated aloud to no one in particular. To most of the drone population, the punishment would have floored the recipient, but ever since the first day of planetfall activities such as these regularly commenced. Once punishment spheres were discovered, these said activities increased in intensity and duration for the entire drone population. Most thought that Yang envied Contessa for her vast knowledge and mastery of the sciences, and her ability to evade the weekly nerve staplings.  
  
"Can nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours?" the officer asked at the remark, "To the punishment sphere with you. And the rest of you will have this event wiped from your memories. After you my lady," the officer said with mock respect as he gestured for Contessa to proceed to the area of the city where the spheres were kept.  
  
The walk was one that someone wouldn't wish to remember, but Contessa knew it well. Down a main hallway and then fourteenth wing to the left. Seven doors down and to the right was her assigned sphere. The rooms where the devices were kept weren't spacious, and only a handful of drones could say that a punishment sphere was set aside just for them. Automated they were, and all the recipient had to do was put special bands on their ankles and wrists, and a collar around their neck. Once in the middle of the platform, an electrical current would jerk their limbs into the infamous position of an "X" and the process would begin. The majority of the spheres were set on medium, and finding one on low would resemble the idiom "finding a needle in a haystack". This however proved the distaste Yang held for Contessa. Her sphere was the only one on the entire planet to be set on and extra high setting. Residents of these instruments were usually left in them until near death. The collar worn about the neck fed readouts into the computers monitored by the police, and once someone's body showed signs on failure they would go and retrieve them.   
  
That was life though in the Hive, a tedium of work from dawn and well into the night. Survival was the order of the day for the citizens as they went by on what little was given to them. Many had already succumbed to the stereotype of a life of service, but the few who hadn't had no way of coming together and planning a was out. Not I, Contessa thought to herself as the punishment sphere ate away at her life forces. I will rid us of this nuisance if it's the last thing I do. 


	2. Chapter 2

Contessa and the guard made the all too familiar walk to her assigned sphere once again that week, "Attempting to get into the weapons bay?" the guard asked with mild amusement, obviously showing that he was new to Yang's regime, "That's something. It speaks volumes..."  
  
"Tell me about it." Contessa replied looking over at the officer. Unlike the more seasoned officers belonging to the corps, this guard didn't contain the stone glare most had acquired over a period of time. Instead he had a more thoughtful look about him enhanced by a lofty brow, and his overall mannerisms seemed more relaxed compared to the others.  
  
"Home, sweet home. Pardon if you find my attempt at humor offensive in any way. I'm new to Yang's clique, and despite the ungodly strict ways of the society I'm trying to lighten things up a bit."  
  
"Personally, I would prefer a bit of humor every now and then. Just don't get too carried away, lest you end up in one of these punishment spheres yourself."  
  
"Well, I'm glad to know someone appreciates what I'm doing." he said adding emphasis on someone, as he closed and locked the door of the room behind her. After a point in time, every guard on The Hive didn't bother to watch as Contessa prepared herself for the sphere because they knew she wouldn't try and worm out of it. She hesitated today though. She had been so close to distributing artillery pieces to most of the population, but she had gotten arrogant and went for some of the heavy missiles Yang kept.  
  
~* Flashback *~  
  
Evening began descend upon Planet. The citizens of The Hive were pulling a late shift that night because there had been murmurs of an uprising earlier that day, but of course, the officers heard word-of-mouth from other officials and abruptly stamped out any more talk of mutiny. I will not have this, Contessa thought to herself as they received the announcement that there would be a nerve stapling the next day as a result of this. Once they finally went to their quarters she whispered to her roommates, "Ladies and gentlemen, we will rise up from this persecution. And I guarantee it."  
  
So, later that night, she led a group of closely-knit insurgents such as herself across the grounds to the weapons area. The urban, technological area of the grounds was far apart from the rural working area. There was nothing to duck behind when crossing these grounds, and it appeared that the two sections of the city were two separate cities. Guard towers were variously dotted around the grounds, and upon each of them a spotlight searched the ground for prey. Under the cover of darkness Contessa dashed out across median occasionally having to weave side to side to avoid being spotted. When on the Unity she learned some tricks from a Datatech prober, so breaking and entering the weapons bay was no problem. The walls of the buildings were lined from ceiling to floor with ammunition and firearms, and the nearby corridors seemed to go forever in a maze of weaponry. She poked her head out of the doorway and gestured for a few more of her comrades to follow her example.   
  
The plan was that the group would make a sort of line across the median and while Contessa raided, the booty would be passed along the line to the living quarters. The idea was to have the majority of the drone population armed, so the next morning when the guards came to wake them they'd be ready.   
That plan wasn't guaranteed to work though because the moral of the officers compared to the drones was factored in along with types of firearms being used by both sides.   
For hours they raided and were successful for the most part, but towards dawn Contessa was struck with an idea. Once the first room was empty she saw the wing where missile prototypes were kept. Once her comrade returned she ordered him along with the other drones away to the living quarters. She stepped up to the control console and for half an hour she decoded layer upon layer of encryption's until the lock finally clicked and the door opened. She was met with,  
  
"Hi." A guard had duty in that very area. Damn it. Son of a bitch damn it, she thought to herself as she was taken to a holding cell to await her punishment.   
  
~* End Flashback *~  
  
In retrospect, she thought to herself as se slowly began to give in to the punishment sphere, maybe going for the heavy stuff wasn't such a good idea. The fact that her own arrogance cost the citizens their freedom hurt more than the current running through her body. Next time she'd be more careful. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Ota Kyi," Yang said to the screen that showed his assistant on the other end, "put out the announcement that all drones are to report to the East wing of the main base for the promised nerve stapling."  
  
"I... can't do that." Kyi said somewhat nervously to his leader, "all of the drones are gone."  
  
A pause, "What? What do you mean gone? They couldn't have just disappeared." Yang said quickly loosing his temper, but not showing it. The fact that all of his drones were gone wouldn't phase him one bit normally, but he knew why the drones were escaping.   
  
"All gone."  
Nobody ever ventures to the outskirts of this place, why didn't I see this before, Contessa thought to herself as she and some others guarded the rest of the population with shredder pistols. She was released from her punishment sphere fairly early after the incident with the weapons bay, partly because of the new security guard. She wasn't even unconscious before he came in and shut it off manually. According to him he, "Couldn't stand watching her in there." Strange. Moving on, the fact that she was so close to arming the citizens ate away at her furiously as she was escorted back to the quarters. Upon arrival Ian, one of her comrades, informed her that all of the weapons had been confiscated except for about a hundred. Struck with an idea she waited until the guard turned the corner and then she ran out the opposite way.   
  
She didn't know what she was going to do as she ran, but the answer came to her as she had to abruptly turn on her heel and duck into an empty room. Two guards were strolling right along towards the direction she was taking, chit-chatting away.   
  
"Today is that personnel meeting in Yang's quarters. Do you know what he's going to discuss?"  
  
"I don't know, but knowing him it's probably some way to bring down the civilians."  
  
What's up with all of these new recruits, Contessa thought to herself as she listened in on the conversation.  
  
"What time is it going to be held anyway?" guard one asked.  
  
"In about half an hour. It's supposed to last 'til about ten thirtyish."  
  
What dumb luck! Weather it be smart or dumb Contessa was glad to have this bit of luck on her side. She finally had a plan, and she knew just how to go about it.   
  
Now she stood rushing citizens through the doorway she guarded on the outskirts of the grounds nearby a warehouse filled with obsolete, but still in working condition colony modules. It was an impromptu plan, but not a shabby one for being spur of the moment. Under cover of darkness hundreds of thousands of drones filled convoys of colony pods and left the grounds in search of better lives, away from the totalitarian rule of Yang. But there were still roughly a million civilians to evacuate, and already Contessa could see a platoon of Yangs top officers coming their way. After ordering the others who were guarding different spots along the lines of drones she stood with her shredder pistol calmly at her side awaiting the inevitable.   
  
And sure enough they came, except with the addition of Yang himself. Not that Contessa hadn't seen the man before, she was just shocked to find him come out and personally deal with the infraction she had just committed.   
  
"Follow me." he said calmly to her, "Stop what ever colony pods you can and bring them back to this area. The ones you can't catch just let them go, there's nothing out there for kilometers."  
"So, I see you've got your wits about you. Surprising, you being among the frailer, weaker vessels of society. And a drone no less." Yang said as he paced back and fourth in front of his throne.   
  
"Your mind games won't work with me Yang. What ever you're going to do to me hurry up and be done with it."  
  
"Mind games she says," he laughed, "I was only commending you Contessa. That was some operation you pulled off out there."   
  
"Oh so you know my name?" she said cheekily.  
  
"Obviously. But, since you don't favor small talk here's what I'm going to do. You will be transferred to the Huddling of the People."  
  
"In the Great Dunes?"   
  
Ignoring her comment Yang proceeded, "That shall remain your permanent home. And, out of the kindness of my heart, I've decided to promote you to a disciplined... prober." he added emphasis to the word prober and inwardly smiled at how far Contessas eyes bulged out of her head.  
  
"Why me? I have no experience in probing whatsoever."  
  
"With that stunt you pulled you're more than qualified to work as a member of the Hive probe team. Henceforth, you will now work for me personally. But do be careful. Some faction leaders dip captured probe teams in vats of biuret. Your first mission will be to retrieve Ecological Engineering from the Gaians."  
Huddling of the People wasn't in exactly the right spot to begin with as a living organism supporting facility, and the ungodly weather in that area helped very little. All the Great Dunes were were nutrient drained sands that stretched for miles making farming and irrigation nearly impossible. The entire area of that part of Planet came into no contact of jet streams or cold fronts of any kind, and you could bet ten dollars to a doughnut that at least one sun would be up constantly. Ever continuous light meant ever-continuous work for the drones. Wind speeds of up to seventy kilometers caused massive sandstorms throughout the region, and many of the agricultural drones had much difficulty when attempting to reap what little the land offered. Temperatures reached staggering numbers of at least fifty degrees Celsius per day (About 120 F), and heat stroke became the malady trend.   
  
Contessa hadn't been there for but a week when she was called to acquire the tech from Lady Diedre and her faction. 


	4. Chapter 4

Um, okay. I need to apologize for the very LONG wait for this chapter. I had serious writers block. Where's the Metamucil for that?  
  
Mission year: 2501  
  
The usual order and rigidity of The Huddling of the People was crumbling before ones very eyes. The drone population ran wildly about tearing apart anything and everything they could get their hands on. Armories were raided and now everyone was armed with as much ammunition as they could carry. The looming scene of warehouses that dotted the grounds was now burning to the ground in flames of spite for the regime, and the drones couldn't have been happier at their newly acquired homelessness, for this was not a raid, it was liberation.   
  
************  
  
The probing mission for Ecological Engineering was a success, and the technology went straight to Yang himself for whatever plans he had concocted.   
  
"There, I have your damned tech." Contessa said as she threw the disk with the information onto his desk.  
  
"I had a feeling you'd come through for this faction." Yang said as he picked up the tech and pocketed it.  
  
"You and I both know very well that you only want this for yourself, Yang, so don't EVEN go into that whole "I'm only looking out for my faction" spiel with me, you cock sucker."  
  
"Someone's woken up on the wrong side of the cell. Perhaps you should return to your punishment sphere until I need you further."  
  
With a huff Contessa left and began the all too usual walk to where she practically lived. On her way, however, she passed by Ian, who as he passed gave a look that one could plainly read as 'traitor'  
  
Contessa seemed unfazed by this reaction and instead smiled and handed Ian a floppy disk. "Look into it, and then get back to me with what you can find." After a double take and a grin, he pocked the floppy and continued with whatever he was doing. As Contessa walked she couldn't help but smile to herself. Finally, a type of technology that would get Huddling of the People out of the dark ages. She went and served her sentence in her sphere, and upon leaving she didn't bother to remove the magnets from her limbs. She'd just land herself back in there within an hours' time anyway. And, the magnetic force of her bonds would be enough to scramble the main computers hard drive, giving Ian ample time to see what could be dug up out of the tech.  
  
******************  
  
The police from neighboring bases had finally arrived to attempt to quell the riots of Huddling of the People. To an onlooker the premises was a melee of drones and police fighting tooth and nail, one side driven by command, the other by the prospect of freedom. Life would have remained its monotonous cycle of slavery, had it not been for Yang. As the drones knew Yang was the cause of their enslavement to begin with, but his actions prior to the riots were just what the faction needed to lose fear about the ramifications of their actions.   
  
****************  
  
Upon delving deeper into Ecological Engineering, Ian had discovered it to be more promising than previously expected.  
  
"You can build formers," he explained to Contessa one evening, "they do everything! They plant farms and forests, they dig mines, they build solar collectors and boreholes, they build condensers...."  
  
"Wait, condensers help change rain patterns, am I correct?" Contessa asked coming to attention. She had known everything else about what could be done with formers, but she had not known that they changed weather patterns.  
  
"Well, yeah." Ian said, "So what?"   
  
Contessa gaped at Ian with an "I can't believe you" expression on her face. "Get me some schematics on the condensers, I have an idea."  
  
After a few months of tactful scraping and clever hiding, all of the materials were needed to build camouflaged condensers around the base. "I'll disguise them as attachments to the antennae that stick up out of the warehouses. Then, we'll se what we get from there." Contessa said to Ian one day. After more building in between guard shifts all of the condensers were finally finished. One could say that it was odd from that point on. Fields of xenofungus that lay outside out the Great Dunes began to close in nonstop for a month and a half plus, and then suddenly it stopped on the fifty-first day. Despite all efforts to destroy the fauna, it just kept closing in when some would be burned.   
  
One morning however, the moment of truth had arrived. The soft patter of raindrops could be heard from inside the drones holding cells', and as they walked out onto the grounds they were met with a gentle rain. The response was awed numbness. Some people stopped once a few drops hit them, some fainted, and in extreme cases a few drones even shed tears at the break in the harsh heat wave. That hope was however not to be taken lightly, as the drones began to think that this could just be temporary. But, as time waned on the drizzle grew into a storm, and those few cases of hysterics among the drones became epidemic. A grateful one mind you.   
  
*******************  
  
As they feared though, once Yang had gotten word of this misdemeanor, he sent over inspectors to locate the condensers and then destroy them, much to the drones distaste. The grateful hysterics turned mournful, and tempers flared at the rash decision. The one who seemed bothered by this the most was Contessa. 'How dare he!' she thought to herself as she ran to her quarters to retrieve her graviton rifle. 'I was nearly killed to give this faction a break, and here he goes destroying it.' She said as she remembered her near escape from Gaia's Landing. Emerging from the crowd seconds later she fired her weapon and took out fifteen guards and inspectors in one blast.   
  
"It's high time we begin to think for ourselves!" she told her peers. Contessa was promptly met with cheers of assent as the crowd broke and began to attack their oppressors.   
  
The riots intensified as the reinforcements for Yang arrived.   
  
"These drones are beginning to overpower us," an officer half spoke half yelled into his radio, "We need more back up! I repeat, we have a 286 -" he was cut off by an elbow to the back of the head.   
  
"1-8-7 mother fucker!" a drone yelled as he handcuffed the guard, threw him on the ground, and began to kick him in the ribs in a sort of happy rage.  
  
The scene around them worsened. Everywhere you looked there was someone taking on a police officer. If you looked to the left, you could see a group of men taking turns flogging an officer with his own night stick. If you looked left, you could see a group of women procuring fallen officers' shredder pistols in order to begin rampaging against oncoming police. There was even about five children no older than ten overpowering one officer, all the while taking away his weapons and anything else on him. That spat was obviously a sign saying that Yang had done all of the wrong things for far too long.   
  
********************  
  
"Chairman, we haven't been able to stop rioting at Huddling of the People. Officers have asked for your assistance." Ota Kyi said to Yang as he sat back on his throne and contemplated the proposal. "Alright," he said after a few minutes' pause, "Their resolve is sure to crumble at my orders." And with that he boarded his personal needle jet and set off for the problem base.  
  
Upon arrival, he was met with the order he had expected, unfortunately. His sentence to them was nerve stapling, which again made the tempers of the drones flare.   
  
"All each and every one of you are is a servant. You have no other purpose in life but to serve the Hive, and to-"  
  
Parts of the Chairman flew onto Yang's officers that were standing behind him at the moment. A collective gasp came from the crowd below as they turned around and saw Contessa pointing her graviton rifle at the place Yang stood. Remaining officers began to spray her with a shower of bullets, no matter though, Yang was finally gone.   
  
"Attention, attention! The Cybernetic Consciousness has arrived upon request to aid this faction!" called a voice from above. All that remained looked up to the sight of an armada of various aircrafts. Finally, a chance for retribution was in sight. 


	5. Chapter 5

'Oy, my head...' Contessa thought to herself as she became very aware of liquid surrounding her body. She woke up and became more aware of the cotton bonds restraining her within a healing tank. She opened her eyes to find herself looking out into what looked like an infirmary.  
  
Then, all at once everything came back to her. The years of slavery, the numerous escape attempts, the standoff... Hey, the standoff! They won! But, Contessa stubbornly remembered that she had been killed by gunfire. She looked down and saw her body was fairly intact, some scars here and there. Something wasn't right...  
  
The sound of opening doors caught her attention. Two men that appeared to be doctors had just entered the room. Contessa slipped her hands from the restraints and began beating on the glass of her tank, trying to yell around the oxygen mask in her mouth. They turned their heads in her direction, and she saw their implants shining in the fluorescent lighting. So, she had been taken to a Cybernetic base. This made Contessa begin to wonder what happened to the other refugees from the Hive.  
  
"Our scanners said your vital stats were up to par, but after the massacre we thought our computers were malfunctioning. Now that you're awake you can be released." One of the men said flatly. He walked out of sight for a few seconds, and moments later Contessa felt the liquid draining from the chamber. The restraints crept away from her body as the door opened. After stepping from the tank she caught a chill from the cold infirmary.  
  
The stainless steel walls of the base reflected everything in the room, including Contessa's reflection. She walked closer to the wall and scanned herself more thoroughly. The places where the bullets had penetrated her body were faintly visible, but not noticeable. She turned and examined her back, seeing that her old scars still remained.  
  
At that moment, she would have said something along the lines of, "Some things never change, huh?" or, "These will really get me a mate...". But, metal triangles shone in the light and caught her attention. Contessa stared blankly at the small implant centered in her forehead. Two others had been placed on the left side of her head, and one particularly bulky implant on the right side of her head.  
  
"Would you two mind explaining these?" she said, frantically pointing to her head.  
  
"Aki Zeta will explain everything. But first, you had better put some clothes on." the other man said, just as flatly as his partner, "It's not very left-brained to walk around naked." he said handing Contessa a dark green work suit.  
  
Following her outburst, Contessa dressed and let herself be escorted by an armed guard. She would have been slightly intimidated by the poised fusion laser in his hands, but her mind was too busy reeling from the tampering with her body. She absent-mindedly looked at her surroundings. She wasn't surprised to see that the base had a strong laboratory feeling to them. There was stainless as far as the eye could see in the high ceiling'd rooms and wide corridors. The workers were lacking in emotion as they efficiently went about their duties at consoles and on assembly lines. There were the obvious commodities that represented human life, such as lavatories, cafeterias and sleeping chambers. At the sight of those Contessa had to smirk inwardly, unable to imagine the members of this particular faction able to act like normal humans.  
  
The pair was approaching the end of the corridor towards a room with a guard on either side of the door. As they approached the doors slid open. The room itself wasn't far off from the lab theme, but seemed slightly more inviting than the rest of the base. Contessa looked around at the screens in the room. They were parading things such as base efficiency, unit output, etc. Her eyes followed the sound of a monotone female voice to her left, and when Contessa turned she could see a blond woman talking into a communication link. The woman had apparently been alerted to the interruption, because at that moment she quickly wrapped up her conversation with the other party.  
  
Void teal eyes turned to meet Contessa. The woman in question was Aki Zeta- 5, ruler of the Cybernetic Consciousness.  
  
"Welcome-"  
  
"Before you say anything more I want to know why my body has been tampered with." Contessa said.  
  
"I was about to get to that." Aki said with what seemed to be indignity, "I bet you're wondering why you managed to survive. Well, it started about three decades ago. As a faction leader one receives every single little bit of information of the going-ons of Planet. One day my aids were looking through some reports, and one of them caught my attention. It was from the Hive. There were reports of a certain drone that kept trying to lead mass escape attempts, with some success."  
  
"Don't you see?" she continued, "Before we found you you were brilliant. A bit misguided and without credentials, but brilliant nonetheless. After canvassing my closest aids we decided that you would be of great use to us, but with our current war we were unable to risk antagonizing the Hive. But then a year ago you managed to bring down the military powerhouse."  
  
"I've been comatose for a year?!" Contessa exclaimed, "A whole year?! A year!"  
  
"When the UN came to our aid that day my soldiers were given the task to find you. After digging through a pile of corpses you were found, unfortunately dead at the time. But, you have to pay homage to the advances of modern technology." Aki said with the faintest of grins, "We spent a good portion of the past year struggling to bring you back to life. Once your systems came back online we began implanting our trademark cybernetic enhancers."  
  
"So..." Contessa said while composing herself, "You're telling me that I've been dead for months? And then, thanks to science, I was miraculously brought to life? Why though? And why did you take out my right brain?!"  
  
"If we really did remove your right brain then you wouldn't be having these outbursts." Aki said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Oh..." Contessa said, a slight blush creeping up her face.  
  
"We knew we could enhance your intelligence, hence the routine implants. But, after you came back to life our sensors picked up something very unique about your right brain. You see, there is some strange connection between the emotional aspects of your mind and the sentient life here on Planet. We developed a new type of implant to amplify your psi abilities."  
  
"So... What of my comrades?"  
  
"The ones that managed to stay alive during the ordeal were dispersed among the other factions. They were free from Yang, but you must keep in mind that they were still looked on as drones. At least away from the Hive they have the opportunity to climb through the ranks and become something more."  
  
"And what of myself?"  
  
"Well," Aki said, "At the moment we're at war with the Believers. They're a fairly weak faction, and we have the capabilities to completely destroy them. But, they've managed to grease the palms of the Spartans and the Gaians. I highly doubt the Spartans will aid the Believers, but I have a strong feeling that the Gaians will take pity. Now that we have you though..."  
  
"I don't know if I like that pause..." Contessa said, backing away from Aki Zeta.  
  
"My plan is to send you to the Gaian faction. There, you will train and nurture your psi abilities, and then use the creatures Deirdre breeds to destroy their home base from the inside out."  
  
"And what if I refuse?"  
  
"You're not in the position to refuse." Aki said flatly, "Remember where you came from. You wouldn't even be alive today if it weren't for this faction. Consider yourself in debt." 


End file.
